Control of large magnetocaloric effects and hysteresis of La/sub 1-z/Ce/sub z/(Fe/sub 0.86/Si/sub 0.14/)/sub 13/ compounds

In order to improve the magnetocaloric effects (MCEs), the partial substitution of Ce for La in the La(Fe/sub 0.86/Si/sub 0.14/)/sub 13/ has been examined. The MCEs in the La/sub 0.7/Ce/sub 0.3/(F/sub 0.86/Si/sub 0.14/)/sub 13/ are much larger than those in the La(Fe/sub 0.86/Si/sub 0.14/)/sub 13/. The hysteresis loss due to the itinerant-electron metamagnetic transition of the La/sub 0.7/Ce/sub 0.3/(Fe/sub 0.86/Si/sub 0.14/)/sub 13/ is smaller than that of La(Fe/sub 0.88/Si/sub 0.12/)/sub 13/, though their MCEs are almost the same. Similar results are obtained in the case of z<0.3. Accordingly, La/sub 1-z/Ce/sub z/(Fe/sub 0.86/Si/sub 0.14/)/sub 13/ compounds are useful for high-performance magnetic refrigerants.